Rewarding yourself for successes

Research about self-incentives has shown that people who give themselves motivating rewards for quitting smoking are more likely to stay quit.

To set yourself a motivating reward for stopping smoking, decide a smoking goal for each week or month and then plan a reward. You might like to try using the following sentence as used in the research to remind yourself of your reward:

"If I reach the end of the week or month and have not smoked at all, then I will reward myself by...".

Why not copy down this statement and put it somewhere you're likely to see it often. For example, your fridge or bathroom mirror.

Try not to give yourself a reward that includes another unhealthy behaviour, such as a food-based treat. Also try not to give yourself a reward if you don't achieve your target.

The following are some ideas you could choose from:

• Buying myself a subscription to an on-demand TV service or magazine
• Buying myself some new clothes
• Having some 'me' time when I can do whatever I want
• Going to the cinema
• Signing up to a new class (sports, exercise, hobbies etc.)
• Inviting friends round
• Booking a holiday or weekend break

Next steps

If you're ready, you can now prepare to set a quit date and stop smoking.